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SAFEGUARDING AMERICA 



SPEECH 

OF 

HON. WARREN G. HARDING 

OF OHIO 



SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 



SEPTEMBER 11, 1919 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1919 

137262—19863 



SPEECH 

OF 

HON. WARREN G. HARDING, 

OF OHIO. 



SAFEGUARDING AMERICA. 



Mr. HARDING. Mr. President, if it were not for seeming 
indifference in an hour of imperiled nationality, I believe I 
should be content to rest my expression on the pending treaty 
wholly to the report of the Couunittee on Foreign Relations. 
I say" this with propriety, I think, because I had no part in its 
writing, though I was a participant in the conclusions reached. 
My .inclgnieut is that it is one of the American documents well 
worthy of preservation. 

Mr. President, every day of discussion, presidential utter- 
ances included, and every houi- of study comlnne to jiersuade 
me that the league of nations venture in the form in which 
the covenant has been negotiated, is one of peril to the Republic. 
To accept it unaltered would be a betrayal of America. It is 
not for me to consider constitutional inhibitions. There is 
probably nothing to prevent a nation undertaking self-destruc- 
tion by indirection or otherwise if the treaty-making powers 
are in' accord about the desirability of such a course. Nor is 
it for ine to discuss the finer i joints involved in international 
hiw and diplomatic niceties, becaus(> once the league is estab- 
lished it becomes the maker of international law and diplomacy 
ends in league autocracy. 

Such impressions as I wish to offei- are the very simple ones 
of an American who is jealous of the Republic's nationality 
and fears paralysis in that internationality which is the league's 
loftiest aim. Submerged nationality and supreme internation- 
ality are more to be expected than the proclaimed permanency 
of peace, which first caught the sympathy and support of a 
peace-loving world. 

Mr. President, I know the natural aspirations of civilized 
humanity and share them. I know how the heart of the world, 
torn and bleeding and anguished and palpitant in the cataclysmal 
war, throbs in hunger for assured traniiuillity. I pity him who 
has not felt the yearnings within his own breast. No real Ameri- 
can is so bereft of feeling. There is no monopoly of the love 
of peace, and there is no exclusiveness in concern for hu- 
manity's sake. Neither is there a limited circle of those who 
act in patriotic devotion nor restricted groups in loving our 
common country. I say these perfectly obvious things because 
it is time to clear up some mistaken impressions. The pro- 
ponents of the Wilsonian league of nations have no more claim 
to an exclusive desire for the peace of our country and the 
world than the opponents of this league have exclusive claim 
to patriotic devotion to our own Nation. And the considerable 
ninnbers who are grieving that there is involved in the treaty- 
making power a portion of the Senate which is impelled by 
') 137262— 198G3 



486555 

AUG 2 8 1942 






partisan bias ought to revise their judgment, because it is 
as unfair and uncomplimentary to one side as the other and 
challenges the wisdom of popular government. However, if 
disagreement with the Executive, now that the war is won, is 
to invite the charge of narrow partisanship, I welcome it and 
am content to let it go at that. 

It was the truth, last year, two years ago, three and four 
years ago, the people of this country were heedlessly and over- 
whelmingly for a league of nations, or a society of nations, or 
a world court, or some international association which should 
develop a fraternity of action among civilized peoples and save 
humanity not only from the sorrows and sufferings like fliose 
which came with the war now ended, but from the involve- 
ments of which we are not yet emerged. Many leaders of the 
party represented on this side of the Chamber were conspicuous 
in its advocacy, and thousands less notable joined the chorus. 
Among the latter I joined in writing a favoring declaration in 
tlie platform of the Republican Party in Ohii), which I think 
fairly voiced the aspirations of the people of that State. In 
the popular thought was the wish to abolish war and promote 
peace and make justice supreme, and it was believed that the 
woi'ld, war wearied and drenched with the blood of millions 
of devoted nationalists, would be ready for the committal. 
Our people were thinking of the thing desired, and never 
pondered the method or the cost of its making. Nobody stoiiped 
to think of the involvements then. We are only learning them 
now. 

It would have been well to have counseled with one another 
before the covenant was fashioned. The people voted such a 
preference most emphatically last November. Most people 
thought there would be counseling, and it ought to have been done. 
When the armistice brought humanity's greatest sigh of relief 
since fellowship engirdled the earth, it was the common thought 
that sympathy would inspire and justice would inipel and safety 
woukl demand some created agency of the conscience of the 
world that should contribute to the f-iirtherance of peace and 
maintained tranquillity. But the immediate task was the 
settlement of the war suspended by the armistice. The mani- 
fest yearning was for recovery from madness and destruction 
and waste and disorder, and the instincts of self-preservation 
called for speedy restoration. No one doubted that the measure- 
less cost and inispeakable suffering woidd awaken the con- 
sciences of nations to take stock of their relationships and 
readjust them to guard against recurrent horrors. But the 
pressing call was for peace, peace among the belligerent powers, 
peace for convalescence, peace for deliberation, petice for that un- 
derstanding which is the tirst essential in undertaking a world- 
wide covenant which mankind had never effected heretofore. 

No one can doubt the advantageous position of this Republic 
when the armistice was signed. We had proven our unselfish- 
ness. We alone had not won the war, but our entrance into the 
conflict in April, 1017, saved the waning moi'ale of allied nations 
which bore the brunt of German attack, and our first expedition- 
ary forces in the sununer of 1917 revived the drooping spirits of 
the fighting forces of France and England, and in 1918 the 
sons of this Republic turned the sweeping tide of battle back- 
ward. It is not unseemly to say our forces were an absolutely 
1372G2— 19863 



essential factor in the winning, though our 2.000,000 of lighting 
and irresistible Americans were only a partial expression of 
our resources and our resolution that Germany and her allies 
must be brought to terms. It is a glorious record which calls 
for no recital here. I am trying only to call to mind our 
advantageous position — the gratitude of the powers with whom 
we were associated, the belated realization and respect of the 
Central Powers, the tardy awakening of Germany, who learned 
the lesson that Americans could and would tight, and the 
world's understanding of oiir unselfishness in the defense of our 
national rights. 

The loftiness of our position was correctly and creditably 
appraised, notwithstanding the excessive proclamation of democ- 
racy and humanity. The latter was mainly for home consump- 
tion. It may be taken as one of the inevitable things in popu- 
lar government, it was distinctly a symptom of our neglect of 
the American .spirit. Those who stop to analyze know, of 
course, that if the German assault had been aimed at the 
world's democracy — our defense of democracy t)ught to have 
answered with every American gun when Belgium was invaded. 
And the same analytical thought must have persuaded the think- 
ing American that if it was our duty to make war for human- 
ity's sake, duty called loudly above the horrified exclamation 
of the world when the Lvsitania was sunk without pity for 
dying humanity on her unsuspecting decks. I am not indulging 
in belated complaint, because I knew the tremendous seriousness 
of plunging the Republic in war, and I knew then our unreadi- 
ness of spirit for such a committal. The point I am aiming at 
is to clarify our purpose in entering the war in order to em- 
phasize our favorable position when it came to an end. The 
everlasting truth is that we were lashed by German ruthless- 
ness to a defense of our national rights, and we did defend 
them, until Germany's power for ruthlessness has been de- 
stroyed beyond recovery for generations to come. We defended 
only our rights, and we know now, if we did not realize before, 
that the nation which does not defend its national rights does 
not deserve to survive. We did not ask more, excepl; to help 
in righteous restoration, and the world correctly appraised the 
unselfishness which marked our efforts. 

It was a very simple course to have taken. Ours was a command- 
ing voice in the adjustments of peace, willingly and gladly heeded. 
It was ours to pass judgment on the terms of peace and speed 
their conclusion. I must confess. Senators, I could find no fault 
with the President going to the peace table. The world had never 
seen before such an opportunity for service, and I thought it fit- 
ting that the first citizen of the Republic should go and utter the 
unbiased advice of America amid the embitterments and preju- 
dices that had grown out of twenty centuries of European conflict. 
I do not share the criticism that he invited no Members of this 
body, which must approve every treaty to which the Republic is 
committed. I do complain that in this most extraordinary and un- 
paralleled wreck in the wake of world-wide war he consented to 
counsel and advise with none who have sworn duties to perform, 
and devoted, essentially alone, his talents and his supreme influ- 
ence to reformations and restitutions, and the establishments of 
governments and the realizations of ambitions and the fulfill- 
ment of dreams which human struggles and battling peoples and 
137262—19863 



heroic sacrifices liave not effected since tlie world began, and 
never will be realized until that millennial day that marks the 
beginning of heaven on earth. The situation presented intensely 
practical problems, and he clung mainly to lofty theories. 

Sometimes I think a vei-y capable writer of history is very 
much spoiled for the making of it. I can recall now my reverent 
regard for Julius Caesar when I struggled with his recital of the 
wars in Gaul. It required a Avider reading before I realized that 
the great commoner of that day was making history and recording 
It for the effect it might and did have south of the Rubicon. It 
is easy to understand the perfectly natural and laudable ambi- 
tion to do the superlative thing which history is waiting to 
record, which superlative thing was in the historian's mind, biit 
it needed penetrating vision to meet the pressing, practical prob- 
lems which were awaiting solution, by very practical men. 

One can conceive the idealist who is blind to the bald realities 
of secret covenants and selfish bartering incident to the alliances 
wrought amid the anxieties and necessities of so stupendous a 
war. Nations wen» battling for their very existence, and they 
made pledges with little reckoning of the future. It was as- 
sumed our Government knew the details, but the assumption 
was a mistaken one. The President frankly said he did not 
know. IMerely fighting in our own defense, it was excusable for 
us not to know, for \\e should have given to our utmost of lives 
and treasure regardless of the aftermath. But in .joining the 
struggle professedly for democracy's sake, we ought to have had 
some forecast of democracy's fate in the pregnant aftermath. 
More, to meddle effectively in the affairs of the world, we ought 
to have known the world's promises. Herein lies the weakness 
of our whole part at the peace table. 

The v.'ar had its inception in German ambition, expanded 
domain, if not world domination, all conceived in drunkenness 
wit^ power. It was met in self-defense — righteous self- 
defense — but there was inevitable consideration of the spoils 
of victory. They became the inspiration and considerations 
of alliances, and there were understandings, written and 
unwritten. We should be blind not to recognize the necessity 
and naturalness of it. The pity is that we did not recognize 
the evident truth and speak with the confident voice of 
justice, and hold ourselves aloof from any committal whicli 
savored of unrighteousness. If Europe, in tbe stress of war 
or out of it, will barter in territories and peoples, we can 
not hinder, but we need not approve and surely we must not 
guarantee. 

Whether the President knew the details of negotiated self- 
ishness while the war was raging, it was inevitable that he 
soon learned when he made his triumphant landing on the 
friendly soil of France. It was not then too late to hold 
aloof. We were seeking only peace. We sought no territory, 
no niandato)-y, no reparation — nothing was asked. Our un- 
selfishness was genuine, to the everlasting honor of this Re- 
public. But the glory of the league of nations — an appealing 
conception — filled the American commission's vision, while dis- 
tinctly American interests — aye, sacred American interests — 
were ignored and forgotten in a new and consuming concern 
for the world. 

Eiftpires and sovereign States, autocratic, imperial, or demo- 
cratic, had fought and sacrificed and bargained and cove- 
137262—19863 



6 

iianted — and we had foujiht with them — and they craved peace 
and we craved peace. But they wanted annexations and ex- 
tensions and creations, and they wanted this Republic, with its 
resources — with its wealth of men and materials — to s«:ii'antee 
the changes they had wrought, and wanted tlie United States of 
America in their unselfishness to guarantee in perpetuity the 
selfishness of the Old World. 

They had nothing to offer us but the phantasmal thing, 
taking tlie elusory shape of the image of peace, a promise 
deeply appealing to the aspirations of ourselves and the world, 
for tranquillity and the banishment of war. And we bar- 
gained for it, and then they fashioned it into a reality, suited 
to serve Europe and the Orient as the seal of righteousness 
on all to which the allied powers had agreed. 

IMr. I'resident. I grant the worthiness, the loftiness of the 
ideal when we look above aiul beyond the immorality which 
it cloaks. One must concede the good which is aimed at. No 
one who is sincere can question the desirability of closer 
fraternity among the nations of the earth. No thoughtful 
citizen of any country will dispute the need of the clarifica- 
tion and codification of international law. Such a thing might 
have saved us from Jn\olvement in the European war, unless 
Germanj' was madly determined to effect her own destruction. 

International arbitration and a world court, for .iusticiable 
disputes appeal to all who think justice is sustained in reason 
rather than in armed dispute. The ef-tablishment of an agency 
for tlie revelation of the moral judgment of the world can never 
be amiss. These things might well have come out of the com- 
bined consciences of the nations awakened to new ideals amid 
the sufferings of war, and they will .\et come. But it does not 
require a supergovernment to effect them, nor the surrender of 
natiomility and independence of action to sanction them. 

It is my deliberate conviction that the league of nations 
covenant, as negotiated at Paris and signed at Versailles, either 
creates a supergovernment of the nations which enter it or it 
will prove the colossal disappointment of the ages. Though it 
would be vastly more serious as the former, I can not believe 
this Republic ought to sanction it in either case. AVhy proclaim 
a promise that will embitter the world's disappointment? 

Let us note, fii-st, the probability of disappointment. Does It 
effect disarmament? The member nations decide for themselves 
the necessary size of their armed forces, which are not to be 
increased except with the league's approval. Of course there Is 
to be studied recommendation for reduction, but any two 
powens in concerted action may reject the entire program. 
AVho has heard of a proposal to diminish the great British 
Navy, which holds Great Britain undisputed mistress of the 
world's seas? Few will question Great Britain's wisdom in 
her well-known attitude. Surely no British subject will ques- 
tion it. She has an empire to defend and a commerce to guard, 
without which England's glory is at an end. 

Only a few days ago the cabled news told us that France 
will maintain a larger ai-my than that Republic possessed when 
she entered the World War. Doubtless France's security de- 
mands it, in spite of the negotiated alliance which calls the 
United States and Great Britain to her aid in case of a renewed 
German assault. We know little about Japan, but we do know 
137262— 198G3 



that Japan may fix Iwr own limitations as to army and navy, 
" taldng into account seotrrapliical conditions and national 
safety," nntil under this treaty we £;ive our sons and our re- 
sources to the enforcement of international agreements by com- 
mon action under articles S and 10. 

Is disarmament loomins as a hope realized? Look for an 
instant at home. With the league confidently expected, with 
all its blessings of peace, limited only by " interpretations." we 
are contemplating an army of a half a million, seven times our 
previous establishment in peace, and the men. in Congress or out, 
who would cut our program for an expanded navy are few and 
far between. :More, the man who would suggest it would be 
unmindful of our security. Verily, he who sees world disarma- 
ment in this league covenant has a faith which surpasses under- 
standing. 

Will nations arbitrate their differences under the league cove- 
nant? They will if lioth parties to the dispute are agreed, and 
they can dothat without it. Under the covenant one party may 
decline, then the council takes the case, and we have recently 
come to know the recommendations of the council constitute 
its .iudgment only as to a "moral" obligation. 

We have heard much lately about "moral" obligations. 
When a thing is covenanted it is difficult for me to distinguish 
between moral and legal obligation. For this Republic either or 
both ought to be solemnly binding. The nation which ignores 
either is losing the conscience which is essential to self-respect 
and respect among nations. It was Germany's contempt for a 
" scrap of paper " that made her an outcast in the eyes of the 
civilized world. 

There has been a curious conflict of meaning in the use of the 
word " moral." When Senators, speaking in this Chamber in 
defense of the league covenant, found opposition developing t(j 
the powers conveyed in article 10, they hastened to say the coun- 
cil's call to war, armed or economic, in defense of any member 
was not binding — " oidy a moral obligation." I have heard 
the term quoted again and again and in the recorded confer- 
ence between members of the Foreign Ileliitions Com- 
mittee and the President it was declared by the President that 
we were not bound to go to war on recommendation of the 
council, that there was " only a moral obligation," on which we 
should have to pass judgment for ourselves. Later on, in the 
record of the meeting, the President emphatically declared a 
moral obligation the most binding of all. I>et every man nuike 
the distinction that he prefers. A contract is a contract, a cove- 
nant is a covenant, and if this Republic does not mean to do as 
it promises, it has no business to make the promise. 

There is no language in the covenant more plain than article 
10. Either it means what it says, and obligates the mem!)er 
nations to go to war in defense of a member nation, or it means 
nothing at all. If it leaves any member nation free to exercise 
its own judgment as to the merits of any attack, it does not guar- 
antee the territorial integrity or peace of any nation. It is 
worse than phantom; it is the mirage that lures nations thirst- 
ing for peace to the very desert of cruel destruction. The pity 
of it is that no reservation will cure the ill. Without the power 
which is deadly expressed, *' the league is a rope of sand," as the 
Senator from Connecticut described it, and with ihe power estab- 
137262—19863 



8 

lislied. as it must be to makp the lea,t;ue effective, we have sur- 
reiulen'd our own freedom of action to a council whose members 
will rei)r;>s(Mit the pre.iu(lic(>s, am!)itions, hatreds, and jealousies 
of the Old World, or to the assembly, where we are outvoted 
6 to 1 by Great Britain and her colonies, and we still remain a 
party to the racial, geographical, and inherited enmities of 
Europe and the Orient. 

JMany have written me, and Senators liave spoken and the Pres- 
ident has argued, that we are no Icmger isolated from the Old 
World, that we have a duty to humanity, and we can not escape 
our manifest duty to world civilization. It is urged tliat we 
struck down tlie barriers \\hen \\e sent the sons of the Re- 
public to war, and there can be no withdrawal now. One can 
not dispute our ever-widening influence; none would narrow it. 
It began when we unsheathed the sword literally in belialf of 
humanity for the first time in the world. That was when we 
went to war to liberate Cuba and expanded to the Pliilippines. 
It is easy to recall the outcry against imperialism then by 
tlie very adherents of world sponsorship to-day — aye, by tliose 
who only three years ago would have furled the flag there, 
and promise it now, after our contribution to one defenseless 
people's jirogress mimatched in all history. 

Ours is truly an expanded influence and a world interest, 
l)ut tliere is yet for us a splendid isolation. The sons of America, 
;2. 000,000 of them, crossed the seas in spite of submarine ruth- 
lessness and every danger Germany could devise, and 2,000,000 
more were ready, and 5,000,000 more would have prepared if 
needed, and they heroically fought and effectively taught arrogant 
Germany to respect American rights and left a wholesome im- 
press on the remainder of the world. The soldiers have in the 
main returned, and, having accomplished our righteous pur- 
pose, it was vastly more easy to liave severed our involvement 
than it was to bring the boys home and turn to the pursuits 
of peace again. The people of tliis Republic were not concerned 
wntb governing the universe. Their interests, their hearts, their 
hopes, tlieir ambitions, their weal or woe — all of these are in 
the United States of America. AVe wanted nothing abroad but 
respect for our just rights, and that we mean to have, in peace 
or war, no matter who threatens. 

It would have been so easy, if our commission had thought 
of America first, to have said to the allied powers, " Look here, 
friends and allies — yes, and to enemies as well — we came over 
and helped you bring an outlaw to terms, be<'ause he trespassed 
our rights beyond endurance. He is humbled now, and it is 
yours to restore order and make a just and abiding peace. We 
want peace, and we want to go to work and replace the waste 
of war. W^e will advise, if we can and you wish it, but we are 
asking nothing, and we will go back home and see to our own 
affairs. We do not mean to mix in again, unless some bully 
in making a row infringes our rights and murders our citizens 
and destroys our lawful property. In that event we will be 
forcetl to come back, but we will come more promptly the next 
time." That would have left a good impression, and we would 
have been at peace, and so would Europe, months ago. 

Mr. IM\>si(lent, rhe first ollicial of our Government is touring 
the country to invite the people of the Republic, thfe great mass 
whose heart is ever right in ultimate decision, to the support of 
i;;72C2--i98e3 



9 

this uiitouehable and nnaniendable and supposedl.v sac-red docu- 
ment. He visited the capital of the State which I have llie 
honor to represent, and was received with the respect heconiins 
his sreat othce. and was appUinded. as often happens to appeal- 
ing speech, of which he is the master. He lias spoken and is 
speaking elsewhere, and the people of our vState are reading, in 
common with the reading people of America. I am not finding 
fault with the tour, even if it is not wholly purposed to promote 
the league covenant. One may not assume that it involves a 
feeling of the political pulse of the country, but if it is. if it is 
to test popular feeling about putting the Presidency permanently 
in the hands of one equipped to direct the world aright and at 
the same time merge this Republic in a super-government of the 
world, my partisan prejudices would be re.joicing. But the 
President told the reverent people of Ohio that he bad only to 
report to them — in a broad sense, the people — and it so happens 
that I, too. as insignificant as my position is. relatively, have to 
report to the same people, and I want them to have not only 
the truth but all the truth ; not only tine generalities but illumi- 
nating details. 

Mr. President, the treaty is being expounded by its chief 
author to the people with vastly more freedom of utterance than 
this body has known, notwithstanding our solemn responsibility 
in making it a binding covenant on the part of. this Republic. 
Perhaps it does not matter, because we have before us the 
treaty itself, and we know what it says, though we do not have 
all the collateral covenants and do not know all to which we are 
pledged or to what ratification commits ns. Yet we have had 
the advantage, or disadvantage, if you prefer, of hearing also 
from others of the peace commission, from experts who drafted 
many of its articles, and alas, we have heard from many who 
spoke for those who pleaded for tlieir i-ights at Paris and who 
declared they were not heard, no matter what is said now aliout 
this being the first consecration of international conscience to 
the rights of helpless peoples and small nations. 

Let me digress for a moment to suggest some of my own im- 
pressions gathered during the liearings granted to the American 
representatives of the aspiring peoples of Europe and Asia and 
Egypt, whose aspirations and long-deferred hopes of liberty and 
nationality are alleged to have been safeguarded in this super- 
creation of humanity. It was futile, of course, for a Senate 
committee to assume to answer prayers or comply with protest, 
for our function is not one of negotiation. However, there were 
citizens crying to be heard, after a denial at the fount of jus- 
tice in Europe, and we listened. They begged amendment or re- 
jection to save their liberties or to preserve their nationalities 
or to maintain their homogeneous peoples. Spokesmen for 
China cried out against the rape of the first great democracy of 
the Orient, and the plea was eloquent w'ith recited sacrifices and 
noble assistance in the winning of the war. We uttered our 
chagrin that the spokesmen for tlie American conscience — aye, 
for the " conscience of civilization " — had sanctioned the con- 
fessed immorality of the Shantung award to satisfy a secret 
covenant against which we righteously proclaimed, and we did 
all we can do to right the wrong. 

We heard the Americans speaking for their kinsmen of Greece, 
our allies in war, protesting the award of Thrace and its Greek 
137262—19863 2 



10 

peoples to Rnljiaria who fontrht for German domination. We 
list(>iie(l to those who were Croats or Slovenes or Serbs utter 
their despair over " the rectifications of history " under terri- 
torial awards arrived at for .Tu.no-Slavia, and Americans of 
Italian origin or ancestry presented the appeals of Italians for 
uiis(>vered relationship from the motherland. More, Americans 
wlio orisinatetl in E^ypt, with its traditions and ancient civili- 
zation, bcL^ged that we sliall not sanction their transfer from 
Tui'key and (Jermany to Great Britain, but save them their in- 
herited freedom and their right to becoming aspirations. Hun- 
garians prayed for restored enfrancliisement amid tlie racial in- 
spiration of the Magyars ; and the irrepressible advocates of 
Irisli freedom made the plea before the Senate committee which 
could not be heard at Paris. I have not named them all, but 
enough to reveal the utter futility, the hopeless impracticability 
of this Republic attempting to right the cumulative wrongs of 
history and satisfy the perfectly natural ambitions and aspira- 
tions of races and peoples. One can not wave the wand of de- 
mocracy, even of excessively proclaimed American democracy, 
and do for Poland in a day or a year or a generation what 
centuries of sacrifice and warfare and self-determination have 
not done. 

Does any thinking man stop to measure the colossal and end- 
less involvement before which the sublimest unselfishness and 
most confident altruism must falter? Contemplate for a moment 
only the mandatory for Armenia. It is very appealing to portray 
the woes, the outrages, the mnssacres, tlie awakening hopes of 
Armenia, and visualize the doubts and distresses and sacrificed 
lives wliile " the Senate waits." I know the appeal that touches 
the heart of Christian America in its concern and sympathy for 
Ai-menia. It easily may be made to seem as if the sympathetic 
Son of God had turned to the Onniipotent Fatlier to send this 
twentietli-century defender of the Nevt^ Testament to succor 
those stricken believers in the great Trinity. But the big, warn- 
ing truth is little proclaimed. Our Armies — sons of this Re- 
public, the youths from American home.s — are wanted there. 
Armenia calls and Great Britain is urging, insisting. A hundred 
thousand soldiers are needed. More American soldiers for Ar- 
menia than we hei'etofore maintained under tlie flag in any of 
the years of peace. Answer the call, and we station this Ameri- 
can Army at tlie gateway between Orient and Occident, to be- 
come involved in every conflict in the Old World, and our splen- 
did isolation becomes a memory and our boasted peace a moclc- 
ery. This is not the way to peace. Tliis is the avenue to unend- 
ing war. 

Mr. President, I am not insensible to the sufferings of Ar- 
menia, nor am I deaf to the wails forced by the cruelties of bar- 
barity wherever our ideals of civilization are not maintained. 
But I am thinking of America first. Safety, as well as charity, 
begins at home. Selfishness? No. It is self-preservation. 
Measureless as our resources are, large as our man power is, and 
chivalrous as our purposes may be, we are not strong enough to 
assume sponsorship for all tlie oppressed of the world. No peo- 
ple, no nation is strong enough for such a supreme responsibility. 
We in America have the Republic to preserve. And in this very 
program of meddlesome assumption, in some instances bordei'ing 
on presumption, we are endangering our own Republic. It is not 
137262—19863 



11 

alone the abandonnifiit of spcnrity, so much warned against hy^ 
the founding fatliers, Avhich suggests alarm. I am thinking of 
divided citizenship at home that must attend our attempted re- 
organization of the world. 

Turn back for a moment to the appealing citizens who ap- 
peared liefore the Foreign Relations Committee in prayer or pro- 
test. They fairly represented a large proportion of American 
citizenship. We have no racial entity in this Republic. We 
are polyglot of tongue, which generations will not wholly change. 
The involvement in the World War found us divitled in spirit. 
The founding fathers were eager to share their freedom and 
speed development of our incalculable resources, and they asked 
the world to come, and the world did come — the oppressed, the 
adventurous, the industrious; but there was neglected conse- 
cration of citizenship. 

In the travail of war the American soul was born, and we 
have preached and practiced Americanization ever since, arid 
we mean to go on and make this Republic American in fact as 
well as in name. No republic can endure half loyal and half 
disloyal ; no citizenship is of permanent value whose heart is 
not in America. I had thought the war worth all it cost, in 
spite of its unutterable expenditure in lives and treasure, to 
have found ourselves. It was an inspiration to find the adopted 
sons of the Republic consecrated to the common cause. Yet, 
sirs, the unhappy aftermath is resurrecting the old lines of 
divided citizenship. We are restoring hyphenism under inter- 
nationalism. 

One can not complain at the revealment, but I am lamenting 
the cause. It is all directly traceable to our assumpti(Hi of 
world .spcmsorship. One can little blame the American of Italian 
origin for being concerned about the affairs of those bound l)y 
ties of blood, or find fault with the American of Greek origin 
for deep feelings about the fate of those of kin in Thrace, or 
criticize the American son of the old sod who finds in his heart 
an undying echo of the Irish cry for freedom. Instead of effac- 
ing the native interest, instead of merging the inherited soul 
in exclusive Americanism, we have already embarked on a pro- 
gram that awakens every racial pride, every Old World preju- 
dice, every inherited aspiration, and are rending the concord 
of American spirit which once promised to be the great com- 
pensation for all our sacrifices. This is no idle fancy. Justice, 
only simple justice, and liberty, God's own bequest of liberty, 
were on every lip, and there was no perfunctory utterance among 
those who appealed to the Senate through our conmnttee. There 
was deep feeling no words could belie and that sincerity for 
which men die, and as I listened I deplored the eloquence of 
speech unperformed, which leads hope to flame high, then 
die in disappointment. And, sirs, I doubly deplored the pro- 
posals and pretenses that open anew the cleavage in the conse- 
cration of our adopted American citizenship. 

Senators, it is a great thing to be eloquent and persuasive in 
speech, but it is also a very dangerous thing. I mean to be 
quite as respectful as I am sincere when i say that our present 
Involvement and our further entanglement and most of the 
world's restlessness and revolution and threatened revolution 
are largely traceable to prewar utterances and war-time pro- 
nouncements. Once before in this Chamber I challenged some 
1372G2— 19863 



12 

of the statements as to why we went to war. I speak of It 
atrain now, because the President told the people of my State 
tliat our soldiers were " drafted for the very purpose of ending 
war," and this league as negotiated Is the only thing that will 
do it. It does not seem to have occurred to anyone that we might 
appeal to the pride of the peoples of the earth. Still more re- 
cently a very eminent authority has proclaimed all opponents 
of the covenant as " contemptil)le quitters if they do not see the 
game through." 

Mr. Pi-esident, T turned to th(^ Record of Congress for that 
fateful Gth of April, 1917, when this body voted the declaration 
of war against Germany. It had occurred to me that perhaps 
the resolution itself would give the official rea.son for going to 
war, as Congress would prefer history to record it. I turned 
to the preamble to the oflicial declaration, and there is given 
the reason in the simplest language that words can express: 

Whoroas the Imperial German Goveriinient has committed repeated 
acts of war against the Government and the people of the United States 
of America, therefore be it resolved, 

And so forth. 

There is the whole story. Nothing there especially proclaim- 
ing democracy or humanity, because both had been fighting, 
sacrificing, and dying for more than two and a half years and 
we neither saw nor heard. 

Let me clarify by further quotation from the President. I 
omit the official proclamation of neutrality in August of 1914, but 
want to. reveal the conscience of America as spoken by him in the 
following January, when Belgium was devastated and France 
was bleeding, and Britain was sacrificing her volunteer defend- 
ers. I quote from a speech made at Indianapolis, scene of the 
more recent admonition to " Put up or shut up." Search the 
quotation for democracy, humanity, " the end of all war," or 
" the I'ectified wrongs of history " : 

Only America at peace ! Among all the sreat powers of the world 
only America saving her power for her own people. Do you not thinl? 
it likely that the world will some time tvirii to America and say, " You 
were right and we were wrong. You kept your head when w? lost 
ours." — The President, Indianapolis, .January 8, 1915. 

More than three months passed, and still the conscience of the 
Republic was unchanged. I quote from the New York speech 
of the Chief Executive, delivered on April 20, 1915 : 

I am interested in neutrality because there is something so much 
greater to do than fight ; there is a distinction waiting for this Nation 
that no nation ever got. That is the distinction of absolute self-control 
and self -master J'. 

Let US, as an act of courtesy, pass the Philadelphia address, de- 
livered three days after the Lusitania sinking, when humanity's 
cry was muffled by the ocean's depths and democracy was too 
shocked to speak. In December we still " stood apart, studiously 
neutral — it was our manifest duty." Thus the President spoke. 
But it is especially interesting to quote from an address delivered 
at Des Moines, Iowa, on February 1, 1916, at the same place 
where the " quitters " were so recently gibbeted : 

There are actually men in America who are preaching war, who are 
preaching the (iuty of the United States to do what it never would 
before — seek entanglements in the coiilioversics which have arisen on the 
other side of the water — abandon its habitual and traditional policy 
and deliberately engage In the conOict which is engulfing the rest of the 
137262—10863 



13 

world. I do Eot know what the standards of citizenship of these gen- 
tlemen may be. I only know that I for one can not subscribe to those 
standards. 

It was an unspeakable thing to abandon our " habitual and 
traditional policy " and seek entanglements in Old AVorld con- 
troversies then, when actual conflict was threatening our very 
safety, but " only the selfishness or ignorance or a spirit of 
Bolshevism " is debating it now. Surely the American people 
will not compare without understanding. 

We went to war precisely for the reason uttered In the 
preamble which I quoted, forced to action by the conscience 
and self-respect of the American people. Perhaps the people 
were greater than their Government in conscience and self- 
respect, but they were not great enough to overcome the costly 
months of delay. But once we were committed it was unalter- 
able. "Quitters" in Congress? They were trampled deep be- 
neath the forward march. Congress submerged itself, abdicated, 
to give limitless power to the Commander in Chief. No finer 
surrender of power is recorded in history, no lawful dictator- 
ship offers parallel in the story of free government. I am not 
complaining, I am commending! It was necessary to speed the 
winning. 

"Quitters" among the people? Not one among the millions 
of patriotic Americans. We pledged all we had, our wealth, 
our lives, our sacred honor. It was the committal unalterable. 
Germany was making war on us, and had to be brought to 
terms. Let me record it for all time — the unquitting r.esolution 
of these United States. Suppose poor, weak but proud and brave 
Serbia had been trampled to earth and utterly destroyed ; sup- 
pose brave, heroic Belgium had been driven wholly into the sea 
and none but her enslaved people remained to cherish the story 
of her opening guns of defense ; suppose Italy, resolute and 
courageous, in spite of her difficulties, had been brought to 
terms ; suppose Russia in her betrayal had joined her German 
masters and sought to destroy the world's civilization as she 
did her own ; suppose noble, heroic, self-sacrificing, respiritualized 
France had been brought to her knees, wounded unto death ; 
suppose determined, fearless, and powerful Great Britain had 
been starved and brought to terms as the Central Powers had 
planned ; suppose all these disasters had attended, then, even 
then, this Republic would have gone on and on and on until 
Germany was brought to terms, because without established 
American rights there could be no American Nation, and we 
had rather perish than fail to maintain them. 

No, Senators, there were no " quitters " after the task was 
once assumed. We finished in triumph. An arrogant, offend- 
ing military Germany is no more. That .lob was well done. 
But after it was done, having no concern for Europe's affairs, 
seeking nothing of territory, nothing of reparation — and get- 
ting none, let it be said — the sons of the Republic wanted to 
come honi'C, and the people of the United States wanted them 
home, and it was in the great heart of the Republic to turn to 
the restoration, reestablish our normal pursuits, and make the 
earliest recovery possible" from the ravages and extravagances 
and wastes and sorrows of war. 

That is not a " quitter's " program. That was distinctly and 
becomingly the American policy, the wish of liighest American 
137262—19863 



14 

devotion. We had never entered any alliances. The treaty 
speaks again and again of the "principal allied and associated 
powers." We were the " associated power," because when Ger- 
many committed her acts of war against us, we joined the war- 
fare of the Allies against her and made common cause against 
the common enemy. We had no compacts, no covenants, no 
secret arrangements. Alas! We did not even know the secret 
agreements the Alli(>s had. It would have little mattered, per- 
haps, had we not proclaimed overmuch against secret agree- 
ments and proposed a new birth for all the world. 

We did cooperate. We fought under French command, and 
our soldiers were conwades to French, to Italian, to Belgian, 
and to British, because we were battling for the defeat. of a 
common enemy. We paid our own way to the last farthing. We 
gave of treasure without reckoning, and Americans died not 
as allies but as Americans. That was the one supreme con.sola- 
tion in every hero's last living thought. Crusaders, seeking a 
human relationship that God Himself hath not wrought? No T 
They were heroic defenders of these United States. 

It may be recorded, Senators, that America finished the task 
for which her sons were sent to Europe, and the mitinished 
work which is now alleged is an afterthought, to which Amer- 
ica was never committed, about which oiir people were never 
consulted, concerning which our very peace conwiiissioners were 
not advised. No one questions the lofty aims of President 
Wilson, no one would hinder consistent endeavor for all de- 
sirable a'ttainment. No one opposes because the American 
participation is exclusively Wilsonian, or because the covenant 
is of British conception. It is the covenant itself and the ef- 
fect of our committal which calls for consideration. 

It is appropriate, however, to dispel some of the illusions about 
it being the expressed hope and guaranteed security of small 
nations and struggling peoples. They had no voice in its mak- 
ing. Their protests were stifled at the moment of its adoption. 
Eyewitnesses to the submission of this super-concept to the 
peace commissioners testify that this " covenant is a perversion 
of what men who really favored a league of nations intended and 
wished for." I quote Mr. Frank P. Walsh, once its ardent .sup- 
porter, now protesting its adoption. When Mr. Walsh appeared 
before our committee he was asked if the assembled peace com- 
missioners, representing nations, great or small, expressed any 
surprise when the covenant was presented. Mr. \^'alsh replied : 

Oh, it was very marked. They jumped up all over the place to make 
protests. Man aft(>r man got up. You know there was an awful cen- 
sorship upon this whole business. 

There was no debate. It was the offering of the Big Four, 
the autocracy of peace, not submitted to debate by the commis- 
sioners signing, and is now too sacred for modification by this 
body which nmst speak for Amc-rica. I believe it designed to 
establish supergovernment, and no explanation nor apology has 
altered my opinion. It may consider any question affecting the 
affairs of the world, and the council's decision is a binding thing, 
else language has no dependable meaning. Supergovernment 
was the great dream, and the very essentials of supergovernment 
were incorporated. If one believes in surrendered nationality, 
if one prefers world citizenship to American citizenship, which 
1372G2— 19S63 



15 

I delight to boast, the covenant is ideal. But it ends demorracy 
instead of promoting it, and it means international autocracy for 
all who accept it without specitic reservations. 

The authority, as written, is limitless. Any national sov- 
ereignty may be* invaded. The authority which.can prevent war 
can make it. and it will. The President has said the council 
may even consider internal controversies which threaten world 
peace, and he holds out the promise that the league will correct 
the injustices of the peace commission which created it. If 
that does not mean the assumption of power to extend to limit- 
less authority, the promise is not sincere. On the other hand, it 
means abandoned self-determination for every member nation, 
and unending interference and invited conflict with nations out- 
side the autocratic circle. 

No one has made the venture to estimate our possible obliga- 
tions. Only last Saturday the cable told us how a member of 
the French Chamber of Deputies had advocated that the league 
of nations should assume a proportion of the French war debt. 
It does not matter that we renounced all i-eparation ourselves, 
it does not matter that we expended without measure, it never- 
theless appears that in the new idealism there is a " touch " 
of the practical. Europe is calling for our soldiers and we are 
sending, though our task was ended last November. Europe 
wants our sponsorship, to enforce the new alignments, and 
wants our treasure to lighten her own burdens. Involvement 
piles upon involvement and responsibility upon responsibility, 
until independence of action fades into precious memory and 
nationality becomes a lost inheritance. 

Senators, no one in all the land has greater pride than I feel 
in having this Nation and our people exert a becoming influ- 
eut.'e on the progressive march of civilization. We can not hope 
to remain utterly aloof, and would not choose a complete isola- 
tion if such a course were possible. We are the exemplars of 
representative democracy, and have seemingly developed the 
most dependable popular government in the world. We know 
that no pure democracy ever survived, and we know that re- 
publics have failed before. We ought and do realize that the 
fundamentals of the United States are not of new di.scovery, 
and we are yet but a child among the nations in point of years, 
though our achievement would glorify centuries of develop- 
ment. My point is that civilization is not exclusively ours, or 
justice solely an American conception, or righteousness wholly a 
new world development. We are committed to them all, and 
we are the best exemplars of unselfishness in the world. 

Our merits are appraised and our weaknesses are known. 
We have power and wealth and conscience ; we do have lofty 
sentiments and high ideals. We would have ours the best ex- 
ample of natiimal righteousness in all the world, and influence 
the world according to the confidence and respect we command. 
We do not need Europe or Asia to define our moral obligations, 
we do not need the Old World to quicken the American con- 
science. The obligations to civilization are not designated by men, 
they are written by the hand of divinity which records the on- 
ward march. No league, no council of any league, no assembly 
of any league can ever appeal to the American conscience as 
will tiie voice of intelligent and deliberate public opinion. Aye, 
137262—19863 



16 

and if we proclaim democracy to the world, we must not crush 
it at its hearthstone. 

Must we liave this particular covenant to save us from 
European broils and old-world conflicts, as the President asserts? 
In a hundred years of American development and growing 
influence no war involved us, though 126 wars are recorded in 
that period. We were not involved in 1S98 ; we went because 
conscience was impelling. I quite agree that Germany might 
have ])referred to respect our rights than to involve us in the 
late World War if she had believed we would answer affront 
with armed defense, but the President was too busy then keep- 
ing lis out of war to utter a vigorous American warning. Ger- 
many held us in a contempt which one militant American voice 
in authority might have dissolved, but we delayed until 
2,000,000 fighting sons of the Republic shot Germany to re- 
spectful understanding. 

We have settled it for all time, league or no league, peace or 
no peace, war or no war, the rights of this Nation and the 
rights of our citizens must and will be respected at home 
or abroad, on land or sea, everywhere an American may go on 
a lawful and righteous mission under the shining sun. To 
adopt any other policy, to call an international council to 
destroy the American spirit, would rend the life of the Re- 
public. It may be very old-fashioned, sirs, it may be reaction- 
ary, it may be shocking to pacifist and dreamer alike, but I 
choose for our own people, a hundred millions or more, the right 
to search the American conscience and prescribe our own obliga- 
tions to ourselves and the world's civilization. 

Let us pause for a moment to note the tendency of the 
propagandists of the liour and the proponents of the league. 
There is a drive to nationalize industry, to denationalize gov- 
ernments, and internationalize the world. All are contrary to 
everything that made us what we are, all stamp failure on all 
we have wrought, and propose paralysis instead of the virile 
activity which sped us on to achievement. 

Nationalism was the vital force that turned the dearly 
wrought freedom of the Republic to a living, impelling power. 
Nationalism inspired, assured, upbuilded. In nationalism was 
centered all the hopes, all the confidence, all the aspirations 
of a developing people. Nationalism has turned the retreating 
processions of the earth to the onward march to accomplish- 
ment, and has been the ver.v shield of democracy wherever its 
banners were unfurled. Why, Senators, nationality was the 
hope of every appealing delegation wliicli came to our committee 
in the name of democracy. It was nationality that conceived 
the emergence of new nations and the revival of old ones out 
of the ashes of consuming warfai-e. Nationality is the call of 
the heart of liberated peoples, and the dream of those to whom 
freedom becomes an undying cause. It was the guiding light, 
the song, the prayer, the consununation for our own people, al- 
though we were never assured indissoluble union until the Civil 
War was fought. Can any red-blooded American consent now, 
when we have come to understand its priceless value, to merge 
our nationality into internationality, merely because brotlier- 
hood and fraternity and fellowship and peace are soothing and 
appealing terms? 
137262—19863 



IT 

Oh sirs, I know it is denied. I can understand tlie indignant 
denial. I will not challenge its sincerity. It would be very dis- 
heartening to believe that any American in official position, or 
who donned the garb of an armed defender, knowingly assents to 
surrendered nationality. I may be wrong, but I elect to take no 
chances. If this league as negotiated can do all that its propo- 
nents have promised, it can tighten its grip on the destmy of 
nations and make our inspiring nationality only a memory. 
Extravagant utterance? Well, establish the council without 
strong reservations protecting our freedom of action, and estab- 
lish the assembly with its powers unhindered by reservations, 
and no man can "foresee the exercise of authority by the league 
of great powers, against whom small nations will protest in vam. 
Suppose it proves all that is claimed in discouraging war, which 
manv honestly doubt. Let me say in passing that an able and 
experienced otlicer of the Army, stalwart in his Americanism 
and his love of country, whose devotion has been proven again 
and again, and who not only fought in the late war but is a stu- 
dent of European affairs, said to me not a month ago : " Senator, 
as a military man I ought to favor this league because it means 
war after war and constant activity in the work for which I 
am trained. But I pray in my American heart you will never 
commit us to it, because I can see involvements and regrets 
unending." , 

But suppose it makes for the promised peace, I still prefer, 
and the great majority of Americans still prefer, to be the keep- 
ers of our national conscience and let Europe pass upon its moral 
obligations while we righteously meet our own. 

Only the other day the President called upon the opponents 
of this league to " Put up or shut up." Among opponents he 
classes reservationists as well as those who would destroy it all. 
A good many people have been "putting up" in this country. 
Perhaps they have a right to speak. But in modified terms the 
President is uttering that very familiar demand, " if you won't 
have this, what have you to offer?" It is the well-known call 
for constructive proposals in place of obstructive discussion. 
There are times when obstruction justifies the call for some- 
thing constructive. But this situation, Senators, calls for action 
preservative. When some one proposes an impossible thing, it is 
not fit challenge to demand a constructive substitute. The pres- 
ervation of American safety is the main thing. A safeguarded 
inheritance is infinitely better than the wasted riches of na- 
tionality. ,. , ,1 

Nobody is going to " shut up." Democracy does not demand 
such a surrender. Men in this body have a sworn duty to per- 
form, no less important to ratification than presidential au- 
thority is to negotiation. A Senator may be as jealous of his 
constitutional duty as the President is jealous of an interna- 
tional concoction, especially if we cling to the substance as well 
as the form of i-epresentative democracy. The dictatorship was 
for the war only, and does not abide in the aftermath. 

Members of this body are not insensible to the criticism of 
their actions, official criticism, and the complaints of constitu- 
ents. There are expressions of approval, too. Men have not 
been" blind to the unusual mail from home; they have appraised 
letters inspired, letters perfunctory, letters from the heart, 
137262—19863 



18 

letters urgiiifj support, letters breathing deep alarm. I have 
lieard the eharjjjc^ of partisanship and the threat of destroyed 
party and the prophecy of individual political ignominy. But I 
lecord it now, because it ought to be recorded ; the soul of this 
discussion is splendidly patriotic. It is not confined to one 
side of the Chamber nor to one side of the pending issue. I 
yield the belief in sincerity even to those wlio do not grant it. 
More, the radical, unalterable opponents of the league and the 
treaty have rendeivd a real service to this country. I do not 
agree to all they urge in opposition, but I credit them with the 
awakening of America, without which the Republic might have 
been unconsciously betrayed. 

To what conclusion am I leading? Speaking for myself alone, 
voicing no faction, no group, no party, I do not see how any 
Senator can decide upon his final vote till the disputed amend- 
ments and proposed i-e.'-'ervations shall have the stamp of the 
decision of a Senate majority. I can never vote to ratify with- 
out safeguards. I am not yet pi-rsuaded to cast a ratifying vote 
without amendments. I have listened to tlie committee's earn- 
est discussions. I bear witness that there was no fixed pro- 
gram of action in advance. I have sought to retain a fairly 
open mind, withholding unalterable utterance in tlie face of 
the charge of wabbling indecision. 

I mean to vote for the amendments proposed by the com- 
mittee. They ought to be accepted. If the President is correct 
in declaring the proposed reservations will send the treaty back, 
then amendments will not unduly delay. Suppose there is 
delay? Civilized peoples are not supposed to move unthinkingly 
in creating the surpassing covenant of all the ages. This is an 
epoch-making treaty, no matter what its terms prescribe. 

America need not fear the ill-will of our allied covenanters. 
Their need for our cooperation is not so critical as when the 
German armies were battering the western battle fronts, but 
Europe needs us infinitely more than we need Europe. The 
aftermath is little less diflicult than the problems of war itself. 
We can carry the Ininners of America to the new Elysium, even 
though we have to furl them before we enter. 

It is well to do any job right. It is imperative to do a mighty 
job right, especially wlien it involves the fate of all civilization. 
If the world is to start all over, it ought to start with the 
square deal. The treaty has not written it ; the square deal 
was reserved for informal promises not uttered in the supreme 
document. Though we performed a great service in armed 
battling for preserved civilization, we have yet a greater service 
to render to the same civilization by making the covenant of 
peace everlastingly righteous. 

All fair men realize the embarrassment incident to the Shan- 
tung award. I'erhaps we can not change it. No one believes 
we mean to go to war to restore to China what Germany looted 
and Japan trade<l for. But we need not be a party to an in- 
ternational immorality that challenges our every utterance 
about lofty purposes and the reign of justice. I want it re- 
corded, for all the world to read, that America esteems her un- 
armed friend no less than she respects her armed associate. 

If reservations are to send the German treaty and league 
covenant back, we ought to amend fully, we ought to write into 
1372G2— 19863 



19 



,i,e text the tbh,ss «hicb America Is ;;;:;;|<;;;j; j;;f,7^;:f„!;r;,i 

mlUl Americanism These njjenat^ons.^^^^^^^^^ ^^,P.^I_ ^^ 

i;STLfeSScl1eraff^4e^ 

^"Al^nlr?hl'^;SS;ts we shall be ren^iss in uttering the 

be yecre^Kit o (utj ilus IS not t e u^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ American 

n^ifllSln^tTlUlvruNl^^ Kn,e the deliberate Judgment of 

"^"if'Sh a course delavs reconstruction, let reconstruction 
w.Yt It awaiteS Se ong negotiation at Paris, it waited anud 
m-ter t can IwaU cor?ectio^ where the blunder was made 
Yon have heard the call of finance, voicing its impatience Let 
finweiecaU that fundamental Americanism transcends is im- 

E Ht^^t c^n^°Str.us;s^ rSsf ^;:; 
E'f^eSe^ss^;y«s?HS'BSr^^ 

Momentous achievements are "ot wrought m ""f ^J?"^^- .. 

Onf of the ferment, the turmoil, the debts, and echoing soi 
rows .^it'ofth" appalling waste and f-'-^^-hing disorder ; out 
of the threats against orderly government and the assaults on 
om-m-esenMlav civilization, I think I can see the opening way 
?oi- Ame r ca We must preserve the inheritance and ho d 
Sisinve the conscience which has guided our national life We 
rSd^g^l^t'government and hold ^o i.;teUigo^t and cleh^ 
ovntP niihlip oDinion as sh eld and buckler to lepieseniaiive 
SocJacv We mist hold to civil liberty, no mat er who 
a ail" or 'in what garb he ai>pears and we mus hold equal 
opportunity and the reward of merit no less vital to a UMn„ 
Republic than liberty itself. ^Mthin qnd for 

We do not need and we do not mean ^o ^^ ^^^^^^^^'^^^f ^^^ 
niircipiv"^ alone but we do mean to hold oui loeais hciL^ 

^^£;lri^"S^f I pJ^uS^ lis t^t^x 

fhen we ou -1 to send the American torch beare^-s leading on 
oTultllnent America ahled in saving civilization; Americans 
will not fa ctvillzation in the deliberate advancements of 
peace We are willing t<. give, but we resent demands. 



137262—19863 



20 

I do not believe, Senators, that it is ?oing " to break the heart 
of tlio world " to make this covenant right, or at least free 
from perils which would endanger our own independence. But 
it were better to witness lliis rhetorical tragedy than destroy 
the soul of this great llepublic. 

It is a very alluring thing, Mr. President, to do what the world 
has never done before. No republic lias permanently survived. 
They have flashed, illumined, and advanced the world, and 
faded or crumbled. I want to be a contributor to the abiding 
Republic. None of us to-day can be .sure that it shall abide for 
generations to come, but we may hold it unshaken for our day. 
and pass it on to the next generation preserved in its integrity. 
This is the unending call of duty to men of every civilization ; 
it is distinctly the American call to duty to every man who 
believes we have come the nearest to dependable popular goveru- 
me«it the world has yet witnessed. 

Let us have an America walking erect, unafraid, concerned 
about its rights and ready to dd'ond them, proud of its citizens 
and connnitted to defend them, and sure of its ideals and strong 
to support them. We are a hundred millions and more to-day, 
and if the miracle of the first century of national life may be 
repeated in the second the millions of to-day will be the 
myriads of the future. I like to think, sirs, that out of the dis- 
covered soul of this Republic and through our preservative 
actions in this supreme moment of human progress we shall 
hold the word American the proudest boast of citizenship in 
all the world. 

137262—19863 

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